Cats in the News

This morning I received a worrying book through the post for the beast. Although he might try to take art up seriously, his lack of a cultural education (he’s Australian) could be a disadvantage. On the other hand, it might give his work a feral realism to his paintings. At least until he gets bored and walks off.
There are also a couple of feline news-worthy items from the BBC today.

Firstly, a couple in Newcastle have “found a use for their deceased dog’s hair. They had it spun into a wool, and then knitted a couple of jumpers from it.
I mention with with respect to cats because although The Beast is officially a short-haired cat, he does everything he can to demonstrate that his short hair is rather long, and leaves plentiful evidence all over the flat. I’ve been trying to find a use for the stuff, because I’ve got such a good supply of hair, and it’s not going to stop soon (I hope).
The second piece of news was passed on to me by Henry Gee. According to the latest reports, cats are healthy for humans, reducing our chances of a heart attack by 40%. I suspect this is partly because it makes us immune to the shock of sudden events, like unexpected crashes in the middle of the night, or being leapt upon by rampaging hairy beasts looking for some attention.
Of course, giving the attention to the cat can also help reduce stress, so it’s perhaps appropriate that this news was reported at the International Stroke Conference.

What a perfectly charming reply.
If only I didn’t die first from the asthma, I would have loved to have a cat, for me and for my family (in that order). The other if is: if desensitization works against grasses this year, I’ll say to hell with it and start desensitization against cats and try to live with it. We’re practicing with a neighborhood stray, very independent, so he’s not real cuddly. I’d prefer a dog, but for many reasons adopting one is an even less likely scenario.

I had a great great aunt that used to shave her Poodles (they were the large size) and then spin it into wool and knit with it. Not sure if she wore it…
Also Heather, my mom actually did a series of allergy shots for cats (once a week for a year, twice a month for another year). Yes, she does love them that much 🙂 But if you consider that she once went into anaphylactic shock from her first cat, and now she has three cats, that’s pretty awesome. She still can’t exactly rub a cat to her face (she gets slightly itchy) but it’s what she wanted…